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| Campaign | 1980 Democratic primaries 1980 U.S. presidential election |
|---|---|
| Candidate | Jimmy Carter 39th President of the United States (1977–1981) Walter Mondale 42nd Vice President of the United States (1977–1981) |
| Affiliation | Democratic Party |
| Status | Announced: December 4, 1979 Presumptive nominee: June 3, 1980 Official nominee: August 11, 1980 Lost election: November 4, 1980 Left office: January 20, 1981 |
| Slogan(s) | A Tested and Trustworthy Team |
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|---|---|---|
Personal 76th Governor of Georgia 39th President of the United States Tenure   | ||
In the1980 United States presidential election, incumbent presidentJimmy Carter and incumbent vice presidentWalter Mondale were defeated byRepublican presidential nomineeRonald Reagan and vice presidential nomineeGeorge H. W. Bush.
President Carter launched his presidential re-election bid on December 4, 1979. He had low approval during his term; many people thought Carter mishandled theIran hostage crisis, inflation, and severeeconomic downturn.[1] In the1980 Democratic Party presidential primaries, he was challenged by U.S. senatorTed Kennedy,whose campaign was formally launched on November 7, 1979. Carter lost 12 states and Washington, D.C., but won the remaining states and received theDemocratic nomination with 1,984 delegates on August 11, 1980.
Reagan and Bush challenged Carter and Mondale in the general election.[2] Reagan talked the most about the hostage crisis and the economy. In thesecond debate between Carter and Reagan, Reagan openly criticized him over the crisis; some said it was for that reason that Carter lost the election.[3] On November 4, Carter was defeated by Reagan, receiving 49 electoral votes and 41 percent of the popular vote.
Had Carter been re-elected to a second consecutive term, he would have been the first Democrat to win two consecutive presidential elections sinceFranklin D. Roosevelt in1936.
Jimmy Carter, born inPlains, Georgia, the 39th president of the United States at that time, served in theUnited States Navy and passed theUnited States Naval Academy. He then ran for theGeorgia State Senate and was successful. In 1971, he participated and continued to win, electedGovernor of Georgia. Carter's family history was once a traditional farmer.[4]
Carter participated in hisfirst presidential campaign on December 12, 1974, he participated in the1976 Democratic Party presidential primaries, he defeated all his opponents with 1,130 delegates, he was then nominated in the1980 Democratic National Convention, during his 1976 campaign, he challenged then-presidentGerald Ford over theVietnam War and the economy as well as the quality of people's lives at that time.[5]
Carterdebated with Ford three times from September 23 – October 22, 1976, after the debate, he then won theU.S. presidential election on November 2, 1976, with 297 electoral votes and 50.1% popular votes, was one of theelections with the most disparate vote rates. He assumed thepresidency on January 20, 1977, and served in theWhite House for four years beforeRonald Reagandefeated him on November 4, 1980, andtook office on January 20, 1981.
In theDemocratic presidential primaries, Carter faced a viable candidate, SenatorTed Kennedy. Kennedy addressed the crisis in Iran, rising oil prices and economic stagnation. He also spoke about the low approval ratings of the Carter administration towards the end of its term.[6] In response, Carter said that if Kennedy ran against him in primary election, he would "kick his ass".[7] In theMassachusetts primary, Carter lost to Kennedy with 34 delegates compared to Kennedy's 78 delegates, this was a setback for Carter and he became the most recent president to lose a state primary until PresidentJoe Biden lost toJason Palmer inAmerican Samoa,[8] although he still won most of the states and only missed 12 states andWashington D.C..
After the Democratic primaries ended, Carter received a total of 1,984 delegates and 51.1% popular votes compared to Kennedy with about 1,237 delegates and 37.6% popular votes, this was one of the rare times that a sitting president won. lose the most delegates to others, as well as the number of popular votes, because Carter's approval numbers at the end of his term remained very low.[9]
After winning the Democratic primaries, Carter was re-nominated at theDemocratic National Convention inMadison Square Garden, New York City, where he again chose Walter Mondale as his vice presidential running mate, Although he chose Mondale to be vice president, Mondale still had to go to the election round in 1980, this would also be the last time the Democratic Party voted to elect a vice president but faced opposition, Mondale received 2,429 delegates.[10]
The 1980 convention was notable as it was the last time in the 20th century, for either major party, that a candidate tried to get delegates released from their voting commitments, done by Ted Kennedy. Kennedy spoke on August 12 and gave a speech in support of President Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Kennedy's famous speech finally ended with the lines: "For me, a few hours ago, this campaign ended. For all those whose concern is the concern of us, the work continues, the cause lives on, the hope lives on, and the dream will never die." His speech was written byBob Shrum.[11]
President Carter gave his speech accepting the party's nomination on August 14. This was notable for his gaffe intended to be a tribute toHubert Humphrey, whom he referred to as "HubertHoratio Hornblower".[12] Carter received 2,123 delegates, Kennedy 1,151,Proxmire 10 and other candidates received under 6 delegates. The total were 3,315 delegates.[13]
Ronald Reagan, a member of theRepublican Party as well as formerGovernor of California and an actor, announcedhis 1980 presidential campaign on November 13, 1979, after which he participated in the presidential primaries of the Republican Party and won 1,407 delegates, he then choseGeorge H. W. Bush as vice president at the1980 Republican National Convention, where he won the nomination to face Carter in the1980 general election and would beinaugurated on January 20, 1981.[14] Reagan frequently criticized Carter for the crisis in Iran,economic stagnation, rising inflation, and fallingapproval ratings. Carter criticized Reagan's age and his indiscretions, saying "he lacks the connection with his home California voter base to oppose him", Carter also added that Reagan "is a warmonger and cannot be trusted with hisnuclear arsenal".[15][16] Carter attempted to deny Reagan's campaign $29.4 million (equivalent to $108,718,255 in 2023) in campaign funds, dependent on conservative groups that raised $60 million to help he was elected—an amount exceeding the campaign fund limit. Carter's effort was later rejected by theFederal Election Commission.[15]
Here are the lists of Carter supporters in the presidential primaries:
U.S. Senators
U.S. Representatives
Federal Officials
Governors
State Officials
Municipal Officials
Individuals
In Democratic primaries:
| Poll source | Publication | Jerry Brown | Jimmy Carter | Ted Kennedy | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gallup | April 1978 | 12% | 29% | 36% | 16% | 7% |
| Gallup | July 1978 | 11% | 20% | 44% | 16% | 9% |
| Gallup | September 1978 | 8% | 34% | 39% | 12% | 7% |
| Gallup | November 1978 | 10% | 32% | 58% | – | |
| Gallup | April 1979 | 9% | 31% | 58% | 2% | |
| Gallup | June 1979 | 8% | 17% | 52% | 9% | 14% |
| Gallup | June 1979 | 9% | 22% | 54% | 6% | 9% |
| Gallup | July 1979 | 9% | 21% | 53% | 16% | 1% |
| Gallup | November 1979 | 9% | 34% | 51% | 6% | |
| Gallup | November 1979 | 8% | 32% | 39% | 5% | 16% |
| Gallup | December 1979 | – | 46% | 42% | 12% | |
| Gallup | January 1980 | – | 51% | 37% | 12% | |
| Gallup | January 1980 | – | 63% | 24% | 13% | |
| Gallup | February 1980 | – | 61% | 32% | 7% | |
| Gallup | March 1980 | – | 66% | 27% | 7% | |
| Gallup | March 1980 | – | 60% | 28% | 12% | |
| Gallup | March 1980 | – | 59% | 31% | 10% | |
| Gallup | April 1980 | – | 53% | 33% | 14% | |
| Gallup | May 1980 | – | 51% | 36% | 13% | |
| Gallup | May 1980 | – | 58% | 31% | 11% | |
| Gallup | July 1980 | – | 60% | 34% | 6% | |
| Gallup | August 1980 | – | 48% | 38% | 14% | |
On November 4, 1980, Carter lost the election to Republican nomineeRonald Reagan. Reagan won 489 electoral votes and 50.8% of the popular vote while Carter only received 49 electoral votes and 41.0% of the popular vote. Reagan carried 44 states while Carter only carried 6 states withWashington D.C., this is one of the elections wherethe presidential candidate defeated the incumbent president in a landslide, Carter only keptGeorgia,Minnesota,Washington D.C.,Rhode Island,West Virginia andHawaii for him.[57]
Before the election, Carter and Reagandebated inCleveland, Ohio on October 28, 1980, where the two talked about military, economics, inflation, politics, and the hostage crisis in Iran, Reagan later famously said during the debate which "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" to refer to inflation and Carter's economy compared to four years ago when it was worse.[58]
| Presidential candidate | Party | Home state | Popular vote | Electoral vote | Running mate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | Vice-presidential candidate | Home state | Electoral vote | ||||
| Ronald Reagan | Republican | California | 43,903,230 | 50.75% | 489 | George H. W. Bush | Texas | 489 |
| Jimmy Carter (incumbent) | Democratic | Georgia | 35,480,115 | 41.01% | 49 | Walter Mondale (incumbent) | Minnesota | 49 |
| John B. Anderson | Independent | Illinois | 5,719,850 | 6.61% | 0 | Patrick Lucey | Wisconsin | 0 |
| Ed Clark | Libertarian | California | 921,128 | 1.06% | 0 | David Koch | Kansas | 0 |
| Barry Commoner | Citizens | Missouri | 233,052 | 0.27% | 0 | LaDonna Harris | Oklahoma | 0 |
| Gus Hall | Communist | New York | 44,933 | 0.05% | 0 | Angela Davis | California | 0 |
| John Rarick | American Independent | Louisiana | 40,906 | 0.05% | 0 | Eileen Shearer | California | 0 |
| Clifton DeBerry | Socialist Workers | California | 38,738 | 0.04% | 0 | Matilde Zimmermann | New York | 0 |
| Ellen McCormack | Right to Life | New York | 32,320 | 0.04% | 0 | Carroll Driscoll | New Jersey | 0 |
| Maureen Smith | Peace and Freedom | California | 18,116 | 0.02% | 0 | Elizabeth Cervantes Barron | California | 0 |
| Other | 77,290 | 0.09% | — | Other | — | |||
| Total | 86,509,678 | 100% | 538 | 538 | ||||
| Needed to win | 270 | 270 | ||||||
Source –Official 1980 Presidential Election Results
After Carter's 1980 campaign failed he became involved in many national and international public policy,conflict resolution, human rights, and philanthropic activities through the Carter Foundation. Carter was awarded theNobel Peace Prize in2002 for his post-presidential work in finding peaceful solutions to international conflicts.[59] Mondale in other hand, he went on to launch his owncampaign as the Democratic nominee four years later in1984, but lost to Reagan.[60]
Carter and Reagan both lived post-presidency for more than 15 years. When Reagan died in 2004 due to his worseningAlzheimer's disease, Carter attendedhis funeral.[61]
Carter was the oldest-lived former president, at 100 years of age, at the time ofhis death on December 29, 2024.[62][63]
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42ndVice President of the United States (1977–1981) •U.S. Senator from Minnesota (1964–1976) •Attorney General of Minnesota (1960–1964) | |||||||
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